Oculus unveils standalone 'Oculus Go' VR headset, priced at $199

The Oculus Go could make VR accessible to all

The ability to experience the world of virtual reality in all its glory has been locked behind a pretty high price barrier for some time now. Recent price reductions to the HTC Vive and upcoming tech like Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality line of VR headsets could help the issue but all of these devices still require powerful "VR-ready" PCs to function properly.

Priced at $199, the Go is a standalone VR device that eliminates the need for external hardware. Naturally, this will come at the cost of power as the Go's performance isn't going to match what you can achieve with a Rift or HTC Vive. This makes the device more of a Gear VR alternative than anything.

And that's exactly what Oculus is going for. The Go headset will be capable of running just about any app that the Gear VR can. Moving forward, any apps built for the Gear will also be compatible with the Go.

Like the Gear VR, the Go will allow for 360-degree VR experiences although users will still need to remain stationary; this isn't a room-scale VR experience.

Unlike the Gear VR, however, the Go's audio comes from the headset itself in the form of a "spatial audio" system as opposed to a connected smartphone's speakers. Theoretically, this should result in improved audio quality but only time will tell. There's also a built-in 3.5mm headphone jack for private listening.

Not much has been released in terms of device specifications, but we do know that the Go will sport a WQHD LCD screen with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440.